Steam cooking device



0. TOLLAGSEN.

STEAM COOKING DEVICE.

APPucATloN HLED 11m6, 1919.

1,375,028. Patent-ed Apr. 19, 1921.

2 sHEETs-sHEET 2.

V to dimensions of retaining flanges, etc., thatV UNI TE. sTATS oLA'r 'roLLAGsmL OF s'r. LonIs'r/ris'sounr.

Vs'rnnivr cooKING nnvrcn.

Application filed January 6, 12519. Serial No. 269,744.

To all 'whom 'it may 'come/'171.' i

Be .it known that I, OLAF ToLLAGsnN, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, in the county of St. Louis jand State of Missouri,have invented a certain newand useful Improvement in Steam CookingiDevices, of which the following' is a full, clear,

concise, and eXact description, reference be- 111g had to the accompanymg drawmgs formmg a part of thls speclficatlon.

My invention relates to improvements in I preferablyzmake my cocker of aluminumand this metal being relatively expens'ive, it is' part of my object to make Vthe several parts interchangeable and so relate themas but one cover is required, which can be used V which may be arranged above-thevkettle at w and in contact with the vshoulderw 3 of the alternately to cover the basel potor kettle orthe top with the steamer within, or can be used upon the top of any of the Sections the base.

One of my specific objects is Vto provide a cooking utensil which is capable of being` alternately arranged to cool: by steam one article or more than one article,'in separate Vvessels, arranged one above the other and which shall be so 'arranged that when an additional article is to be steamed, v`an additional section can be added, whichsection includes an inclosing casingry and the vesselV or vessels for the article of food. vThe lid or'cover lcan be changed from the vessel below, to the added section.

In order that those skilled in the art may .fully understand my invention, attention is` directed to'the accompanying drawings, in

which:

Figure lis a central vertical sectional upper Sections '{8 in the upper partof the ,vessel 4just below the supporting fiange 7 through which the steam has access tothe interior of the 'J `vessel 4. It will.` be understood, of course, that I mayV use the Akettle 1 in which-to view of-my improved Vsteam cooking device 'shown as arrangedfor cooking at least two articles of food ;v

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary section particularly illustrating the means for interlocking the two Vinner vessels; I

Speci ficatio n of Letter s'l'atent; Patented Apr. 19,

Fig'. 3 is a side elevation of one of the Z Fig; 4 isa ,view similar' to' Fig. 1, 'showi ing another ,form of my invention; and

Fig. 5 is a vertlcal central sectlonal view similar toMFlg. 1, showlng' my device arwhich I provide with a circumferential vertical flan-ge orrim'yat its top and a subranged with two ofythelsteam'er' Sections on stantially horizontal or downwardly inclined inner circumferential flange or shoulder 3 at thejbottom of the flange 2; IV provicle an inner steaming vessel4 in which I place lthe food to be cooked by steam. This vessel preferably has a conical side wall 5 to allow ample'space surroundingthe vesi sel ,for steam rising from the water in the lower part of the potf1.. Preferably the `water in the vessel does not rise'to the bottom 6v of the Vessel 4 so as to provide a maxi-V mum surface forl contact with the steam. For snpporting the ivessel' -4'in position I provide it with` an outwardly extending circumferential fiange 7 adapted to rest upon I vessel 1V and be retained in central position i by the Vertical fiange '2. VI thus substantially Seal the kettle 1. In use steam is generated from the water` in the bottom .of the vessel land rises, surrounding vthe vessel 4,

and I provide a circumferential row of holes and effecting the c0okingofthe articles in the vessels above. I provide a cover 9 with which I cover the vessel 4, as shown in i upper vessel 4 'with the circumferential rowv w dotted lines, Fig. 1, when I am cooking only one article by steam. For cooking more than one article of food by this steaming process, Ivprovide additional sections, each of which comprise a cylindrical shell 10 having ,a Vertical flange 11 at its upper edge anda horizontal inner circumferential supporting flange 12, both of these being duplicates as to dimensions, of the Vertical fiange 2 and the horizontal fiange 3 at the top of the kettle 1. Atl the lower end of the the shell 10 and in position to be immersed.

in the steam which will rise from the open top of the lower vessel 4. I make the shell 10 of a suitable height so thatthe bottom Vof the upper inner vessel 4 is raised sufficiently above the top of the lower, inner vesse14, to provide ample space around same for the steam to circulate. .I provide the of holes 8 to permit the steam to enter the p vessel 4 for completing the steaming process Vand for the purpose'of permitting it to rise into and throughiadditional vessels 4 which may be arranged above. I close the device by means of the cover 9. This cover or lid,

lwhich is provided with a suitable handle,

preferably has its center portion crowned up andis provided with a circumferential fiange 9' which is adapted to 'fit within either the fiange 11 as shown in full lines, or within the flange2 as shown in dotted lines. t i

The flange 9' ofthe cover 9 is adapted to rest upon the flange of one of the inner vessels 4 and close same, or upon the shoulder 3 of the lettle 1 when the vessel 4 is removed.`V

In one form of my device, as illustrated in Fig. 4, I make use of the inner vessels 4 in. both the kettle and in the shell 10 above, but I prefer to v.more effectively apply the steam to the articles of food to be cooked thereby, and for this purpose, as shown in F ig. '1, I provide an inner steaming vessel 15 for containing the food This inner vessel 15`is shaped similar to the vessel 4 in that it lhas a conical side wall 16 terminatingV in a circumferential radial flange 17 at its upper edge, by which it is supported within the vessel 4. The side wall of this inner' vessel 15 is spaced from the. side wall of the vessel 4, forming an annular steam space 18 around same. For this purpose I flare the upper part 19 of the side wall 16 outwardly to fit snugly within the upper part of the vessel 4. I make this inner vessel 15 slightly shallower than the vessel 4 so as to provide a Steam space 20 below same, and I provideit with a plurality of small holes 21 in its bottom,.thro-ugh whichthe Vsteam can: rise into the interior of the vessel 15 and through this vessel to the next section above and so on throughout the whole seriesvof sections employed. i

When I use the inner vessel 1.5 I place the food to be cooked by steam therein and I distribute the steam'throughout the whole volume of this inner vessel 15 by means of the perforated bottom as described. t

For lifting the inner vessels or pans 4 and 15.1- provide a Vwire bail 22 adapted to lie within the enlarged top of the 'vessel 15,

as shown in Fig. 2,' and having its'ends 23 bent o-utwardly to enter holes 24. and 25 which I provide in thewalls oif the vessels 15 and 4.

I preferably provide the two inner vessels with pressed or formed in rounded projections 26 and 27 fat each side The projections 27 of the vessel 4 enter .the depressions formed in the wall of the vessel 15 by the formation of the projections 26 and thus separably -interlock the two together. The walls of the two vessels can give sufficiently to provide for this engagem'ent.

This form of interlock serves theadditional VV purpose of registering the holesV 24 and 25 for receiving the bail 22, as I make the holes in the centers of said projection's, and further'more the depression thus formed in thel wall of the 'vessel V4 provides space in.

which the end 23 of the bail 22 can proi ject and yet permit the free removal of the inner vessel froml the kettle 1 or the section 10.V When it 'is desired to separate the vessels 4 and 15 it is merely necessary to spring the bail inwardly out ofthe holes 24 'and 25 and then pull the vessels 4 and' 15 apart.

For convenience in lifting thel several vessels I provide the kettle 1 with handles 28 f at opposite points and near its top, and I provide the shell 10 with handles 29 similar to the handles 28 for lifting same.

In F'ig. 1 I have iHUstrated-the :device Vasvrbeing built up of the pot 1 and one ad- 1 ditional section 10, but it will be obvious i that vI can'as readily build. it upwith ad- .steam therein as many additional articles of food as I provide sections, the steam rising.,

ditional sections to any height desired'and from one vessel around and through the next higher, Vthrough the whole series, and in Fig. 5 I haveillustrateda cooker Vbuilt up of a base It will beseen that therseverall parts are not only registered in alinement with each l pot 1 and two of the sections 10,.,

'other by the coperatingl flanges, but the' It is alsoapparent that no matter whether ``I use the kettle 1 alone or additional sections, I need but one cover, as this' one cover is-'usabl'e intercliangeably to coverl'the kettle 1 or to cover anyV of the sections.

Each section above the kettle is a complete unit except for the cover and they can be interchanged as to height to control the cooking of the articles which they contain, also the inner vessels are all duplicates of each other and can be readily changed from a position within the kettle to a position in ashell above or vice versa, if such a change is desirable in the process of cooking. As the bottom of each shell is received within the top of the kettle or the shell below, any condensation or drip which may be formed will all drain backl into the kettle 1 or into the lower vessel 4:, and will not run down the outside of the device.

My improved cooker is particularly adapted for the steaming of articles'of food, such' as certain kinds of puddings, which require to be steamed for many hours. For this purpose I remove the inner vessels from the kettle 1 so that I can nearly fill the same with water as shown intFig. 5. This quantity of water is sufiicient to provide steam In said figure I illustrate the possibility of using one of the inner vessels 4 in one section without-the second inner vessel 15 andV also the use in the top section 10 of both the inner vessels 4 and 15. The arrangement shown in this Vfigure illustrates the great adaptability of my sectional steamer to meet different needs.

As it is obvious thatmany modifications of myiinvention will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art, I do not limit or confine my invention to the specific structui'es and arrangements herein shown and described, except within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. 'In a multiple compartment steam cooking device, the combination of a base kettle, the upper margin of which is formed with an annular shoulder and a- Vertical annular 'Vfiange surrounding. said'shoulder, aV pair of coperating steaming vessels adapted for support in said base kettle, said coperating steaming vessels being adapted for cook- V ing solid, Semi-liquid, or liquid foods by permeating steam upwardly through the same and comprising an outer steaming vessel for placement within said base kettle, said outer steaming vessel having an annular external fiange on its upper margin adapted to rest upon said annular shoulder, the side wall of said outer vessel having 'steam' inlet' holes adjacent said .external flange, an inner steaming vessel provided with a similar annular external flange seating upon the external` flange of said outer vessel, the i bottomof ysaid inner vessel having steam vcirculating holes there'in and thebottom of said outer.v vessel being imperforate, the f walls of said inner vessel being spaced from saidouter vessel to permit-the steam enter-z ing through the steam inlet holes in the latter to flow downwardly between said vessels and up through the holes in the bottom of said inner vessel and through the food contained therein, a cylindrical shell seating within the 'Vertical annular flangc of said base kettle and vabove the external fianges of said coperating steaming vessel, the upper margin of said shell being formed with 'an annular shoulder and a Vertical annular flange surrounding said shoulder in duplicate of the margin of said base kettle, both ends of said shell being entirely open, and a second pair of coperating steaming vessels supported on the annular shoulder of said shell, said second pair of coperating steaming vessels being in duplicate of said first pair whereby the steam from said base Vkettle permeates upwardly through the food in said vfirst lpair of steaming vessels and thence passes upwardly and ermeates through the food in said secon pair of steaming vessels. i

2. In a device of the kind described, two sheet metal vessels adapted to fit one within the other, and having the upper parts of their side Vwalls substantially in contact, co'- operating interlocking projections and depressions formed in said contacting walls, said side walls being provided with registering holes which are caused to register by the engagement of said depressions and projections, and a wire bail having ends passing through' said holes.

- 3. In avdevice of the kind describcd, two sheet metal vessels adapted to' fit one within the other, and having the upper part of the side wall of the inner vessel flared outwardly into contact with the side wall of the outer vessel, thereby forming a shallow groove around the mouth of the inner vessel, coperating inwardly extending interin said contactingV walls, said side walls being provided with holes adapted to be l registered with each other by the engagement of said projections and depressions, and a wire' bail adapted to lie within the groove in the upper 'part of the inner vessel and having its ends bent outwardly to protject through said holes.

' 4:. In a device of the kind described, two sheet metal vessels adapted tofit one within the other, the inner vessel having its upper part flared outwardly to contact with the Wall of the outer Vessel, diametrcally opposed inwardly extending projections formed in the Wall'of the inner Vessel withi in the contacting area, providing depres-` sionsl in the outer surface end like projections formed in the wall of the outerv Vessel adapted to engage in said depressions, the Walls of said Vessels being provided With registering openings in the Centers of said sions forming spaces to; receive the ends'of projections, and a btil adated toflie `vvithir'i -10 the upperrpart of the inner vessel and'haw. 1

ing its ends bent out'wardly and adaptedito project through said openings, said depres-V Said bail.

my name this 3d day of anuary, A. D. 1919. E

OLAF TOLLGSEN;

- '15A :In witness Whereof, I hereunto Subscribe' i 

